Neogen Chemicals makes strong debut, lists at 17% premium over issue price

Neogen Chemicals, one of India's leading manufacturers of bromine-based and lithium-based specialty chemicals, listed its shares at Rs 251 apiece on BSE, a premium of 16.74 per cent against the issue price of Rs 215.

The initial public offer (IPO) of Neogen Chemicals, which ran between April 24 and April 26, received huge response from the investors as the issue was overall subscribed 41.18 times. The price band for the issue was Rs 212 to Rs 215 per share.

The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 30.49 times while the non-institutional investors category was subscribed 113.88 times. The retail individual investors (RIIs) category was subscribed 16.06 times.

Ahead of the opening of the IPO, the board of directors of the company finalised allocation of 18.46 lakh equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 215 per share. On a consolidated basis, net sales was Rs 159.23 crore and profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs 12.09 crore in the nine months ended 31 December 2018.

Before the opening of the IPO, most analysts had suggested investors to refrain from the offer citing high valuations. 

Neogen plans to double capacity to around 256,000 liters and 2,400 tons of organic and inorganic chemicals to cater to the demand. It is trying to forward-integrate bromination with other chemistries to make advanced intermediates, otherwise being manufactured by customers in-house.

At 10:10 am, the stock was trading at Rs 263.55.